Abstract

Using the URL or DOI link below will
ensure access to this page indefinitely

Based on your IP address, your paper is being delivered by:

New York, USA

Processing request.

Illinois, USA

Processing request.

Brussels, Belgium

Processing request.

Seoul, Korea

Processing request.

California, USA

Processing request.

If you have any problems downloading this paper,please click on another Download Location above, or view our FAQFile name: SSRN-id1484808. ; Size: 5705K

You will receive a perfect bound, 8.5 x 11 inch, black and white printed copy of this PDF document with a glossy color cover. Currently shipping to U.S. addresses only. Your order will ship within 3 business days. For more details, view our FAQ.

Quantity:Total Price = $9.99 plus shipping (U.S. Only)

If you have any problems with this purchase, please contact us for assistance by email: Support@SSRN.com or by phone: 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 585 442 8170 outside of the United States. We are open Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30AM and 6:00PM, United States Eastern.

And Now a Word Against Our Sponsor: Extending the FCC's Fairness Doctrine to Advertising

Arizona State University College of Law; Arizona State University (ASU) - Department of Psychology; Center for the Study of Law and Society, Berkeley Law, University of California, Berkeley

1972

California Law Review, Vol. 60, p. 1416, 1972

Abstract:

This article considers the extension of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) fairness doctrine to commercial advertising. Under the fairness doctrine, although an advertiser may express a view on a public issue in the course of a sales pitch, the FCC has rarely considered the content of commercial messages in determining whether licensees were meeting their obligation to present a balanced coverage of conflicting views. A number of recent complaints and court decisions have forced the FCC to reconsider its position on commercial messages, however. This article focuses on the issues that should be involved in this reconsideration. It briefly reviews the principles underlying the fairness doctrine and describes the FCC's application of these principles to commercials. Then it suggests how the FCC should deal with three possible categories of commercial announcements, and discusses the complainant's difficulties in obtaining a quantity or quality of reply time comparable to that of the original announcements, a fairness problem that is especially difficult to resolve when the doctrine is applied to commercials. Finally, it examines the financial impact an extension of the fairness doctrine to commercial announcements may have upon licensees. It concludes that limiting the doctrine to non-commercial content is arbitrary and unjustified under the statutory public interest standard, is unnecessary to protect the FCC from undue administrative burdens, and cannot be supported as necessary to maintain the financial base of radio and television.